Are your tales of coastal-cruising adventure compelling enough for the pages of SAIL? Do you cruise in an area we haven’t written about in a while? Is your writing professional enough for publication? If you answered yes to any of these, consider yourself on deadline.

SAIL Magazine is looking for undiscovered sailing journalists for our “Cruising America” writing contest. Your assignment is simple: Write a 1,200-word story about cruising along the U.S. coast or on an inland lake. Imagine you've been hired to take a cruise and write about it. We want to learn about the people, history, and geography of the locale as well as the sailing you experienced there. Take us on board—and ashore—with you.

The deadline for entries is midnight of June 30, 2008. Five finalists will be selected by SAIL's editors and posted on sailmag.com. The winning story will be published in SAIL Magazine, and the writer will be paid for it. Good luck.

Click here for complete guidelines and examples of successful stories.